LABE LABORATORY. 



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with the publication of a part of his works, and 

 where he died Jan. 6, 1738. His Voyage aux lies 

 de I'Amerijue, of which several editions have ap- 

 peared, and which has been translated into several 

 languages, contains an account of the natural history, 

 particularly of some of the smaller and less frequented 

 islands; of their productions ; the origin, customs, 

 religion, and governments of the inhabitants, as well 

 as the chief political events which occurred during 

 the author's residence there. He also published a 

 Description of the Countries on the Senegal, and 

 between Cape Blanco and Sierra Leone ; Travels in 

 Spain and Italy ; and a translation of Cavazzi's work 

 on Western Ethiopia. Besides these, Labat edited 

 the Voyage of the Chevalier Demarchais to Guinea 

 and to Cayenne, and the Memoirs of the Chevalier 

 d'Arvieux, containing his Travels in Palestine, Syria, 

 and Barbary. 



LABE, LOUISA, known by the name of la belle 

 cordiere, was born at Lyons, in 1526 or 1527. Her 

 father had her instructed in music, in several 

 languages, and also in riding and military exercises. 

 This excited in her a desire to enter the army, and, 

 in 1543, she served at the siege of Perpignan, under 

 the assumed name of captain Lays. She was com- 

 mended for her strength and courage. The French 

 being obliged to abandon the siege of Perpignan, 

 Louisa renounced the military service, and devoted 

 herself to literature and poetry. She married a rich 

 rope-maker, Ennemond Perrin, by which means she 

 acquired an opportunity to follow freely her bent for 

 literature. With many agreeable accomplishments, 

 she combined a knowledge of the Greek, Latin, 

 Spanish, and Italian. Her house became the resort 

 of men of learning, rank and wit. She excited the 

 admiration of the poets, but at the same time the 

 envy of the ladies of Lyons. Some contemporary 

 writers have praised her for her virtue, while others 

 have accused her of licentiousness. Several of her 

 poetical effusions, particularly the 18th sonnet, certain- 

 ly afford cause for suspecting her virtue. She appears 

 to have passed through all the degrees of love : com- 

 mencing with faithful affection, she became a coquette, 

 and finally an intriguante. We may find some excuse 

 for her conduct in the character of the age, when gal- 

 lantry was not considered dishonourable, and she her- 

 self was surrounded by a crowd of amiable but licen- 

 tious admirers. Her generosity, her taste for learning, 

 and her acquirements, so extraordinary for the times, 

 effaced this stain in the eyes of most of her contem- 

 poraries. The tribute which contemporary authors 

 pay her, and the circumstance that the street in 

 Lyons, where her house was situated, was named 

 after her, prove how much she was esteemed. The 

 charm of her conversation, her accomplishment, her 

 talents, the verses which she composed and sung to 

 the lute, contributed to fascinate her numerous and 

 distinguished admirers. Her works are, Epistle to 

 Clemence de Bourges (written with great talent); 

 the Dispute between Love and Folly, in prose (full 

 of interest and originality) ; three elegies ; twenty- 

 four sonnets, the first of which is in Italian. The first 

 edition of her works appeared in 1555. 



LABIALS are letters chiefly pronounced by the 

 lips, as b,p,f, m. 



LABORATORY (laboratorium) ; a place fitted up 

 for the researches of the chemist. It bears the same 

 relation to the science of chemistry as an observatory 

 does to that of astronomy. Although the simple 

 observation of nature is sufficient to teach us the pro- 

 perties of numerous compounds, and to enable us to 

 develop, in part, those forces which produce chemi- 

 cal changes, still the science of chemistry must ever 

 have remained exceedingly defective in facts, and 

 faulty in theory, but for the light derived from experi- 



ment. It is by means of artificial fixtures and pro. 

 cesses, that the chemist obtains the elements in a state 

 of freedom, and recombines them so as to produce, in 

 many instances, not only their original compounds, but 

 such as are altogether new. It is no exaggeration 

 to say, that nine tenths of the facts of the science, and 

 a majority of the arts depending upon it, have been 

 derived from the laboratory. The constructions 

 which first received this name consisted of under- 

 ground apartments, secluded from light and whole- 

 some air of day a situation it is impossible to 

 account for, except upon the idea that it was copied 

 from the alchemists, who are known to have prefer- 

 red such places for the purpose of secrecy. The 

 inconveniences attending these situations, from the 

 want of light and facilities for ventilation, as well as 

 from the prevalence of moisture, caused them grad- 

 ually to be exchanged for apartments above ground; 

 and although, for a time, an unnecessarily gloomy and 

 mysterious aspect was imparted to them, from their 

 being built of stone or brick, and but imperfectly 

 lighted, they have at length come to resemble, in 

 their general appearance, other structures intended 

 for the cultivation of science. Besides laboratories 

 intended for scientific research, there are those which 

 are devoted to articles of chemical manufacture, as 

 the alkaline, earthy, and metallic salts, pigments, &c.; 

 but as these possess considerable diversity in their 

 construction, according to the kinds of manufacture 

 for which they are employed, and cannot well be con- 

 ceived of without the aid of drawings, we shall omit 

 their description, and confine the present article to a 

 very general account of a laboratory fitted up for the 

 researches of one or two philosophical chemists, in 

 connexion with a theatre, or lecture room, for the 

 public illustration of the science. A building wholly 

 devoted to this purpose, should be but one story in 

 height, in order to facilitate access to the apartments, 

 and to render more easy the bringingin of heavy arti- 

 cles, as wood, water, coals, and carboys, and, at the 

 same time, to allow of openings in the roof for sky- 

 lights and for ventilation. In some laboratories, the 

 theatre and working-room are united in the same 

 apartment ; in others, they are separated by a parti- 

 tion. The advantage of the former construction is, 

 that the furnace operations before a class are rendered 

 more easy ; but the disadvantages are, that the size 

 of the room renders it an inconvenient place for pri- 

 vate researches, especially in the winter, and the seats 

 are continually subjected to the dust and litter of 

 ordinary operations. We shall treat of a laboratory 

 in which these apartments are distinct. The buildings 

 may vary in length from fifty to eighty feet, and in 

 breadth from twenty-five to fifty feet. It should be 

 well pierced with windows laterally, and also with 

 sky-lights and openings in the roof. The lecture- 

 room should occupy two-thirds of the length of the 

 building ; and the partition which separates it from 

 the working-room and other apartments, must con- 

 tain the flues that are requisite for the furnaces of the 

 whole establishment : these may be spread over the 

 wall on both sides, and finally be carried out of the 

 roof in one general chimney. The floor, from eight 

 to twelve feet in advance of this wall, should be paved 

 with stone, or brick ; in front of which, and immed- 

 iately before the seats for the class, a table, with occa 

 sional breaks for passages, gasometers, and a pneu- 

 matic cistern, should extend quite across the room, 

 from side to side. At the ends of this space, enclosed 

 by the table, cupboards should be erected against the 

 wall, with glass doors, for the reception of the jars of 

 the pneumatic cistern, measures, retorts, flasks, 

 receivers, and the bottles and vials containing the 

 chemicals employed for demonstration. The table 

 should be abundantly provided with drawers of 



